NOTTINGHAM Racecourse has been chosen to host the finals of a major national sequence of races.
The Jockey Club's Grassroots Series also starts at Colwick Park on Saturday as momentum builds towards the finals back in the city in October.
The parent company of Nottingham Racecourse – The Jockey Club – are putting up £50,000 in prize-money for the series finals.
Pip Kirkby, general manager of the course, said: "This is a real feather in the cap for the city's racecourse and we are delighted to have been chosen not only to host the finals of the Grassroots Series in the autumn but to launch the entire series itself on Ladies' Day this Saturday."
The series consists of 36 qualifiers split into two distance categories, sprint and middle distance, taking place across eight of The Jockey Club's racecourses.
The 18 qualifiers for each distance culminate in two £25,000 finals staged at Nottingham on Wednesday, October 1.
To be eligible to compete in either the sprint final or middle distance final, horses need to have run in at least one of the equivalent qualifying races.
The major race on Ladies' Day, where savings can be made if you buy your ticket in advance, is the listed £40,000 EBF Stallions Weatherbys Bloodstock Reports Kilvington Fillies' Stakes.
Ladies' Day is the second half of a two-day horse racing meeting which starts on Friday evening with 'Lads Night Out' when the first race is at 5.15pm.